Automatic control system for combustion unit of refrigerator

ABSTRACT

An automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator comprising a control module, a temperature sensing device and a thermoelectric couple, the thermoelectric couple is connected with the temperature sensing device and the thermoelectric couple, if the temperature inside the gas refrigerator does not reach a set temperature value, the combustion gas from a combustion unit is automatically ignited to generate heat to drive a cooling unit of the gas refrigerator that can thus keep its low temperature, and the combustion gas can be blocked automatically when in accident flame extinguishing of the combustion unit and in inability of keeping on igniting. One needs not to observe the burning state of the combustion unit when the refrigerator is in use; the present invention can automatically control the combustion unit without a manual adjustment, it is convenient and highly safe for use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator, and especially to an automatic control system for a combustion unit of a combustion gas refrigerator.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Refrigerators available in the markets presently mostly are electric refrigerators driven by electric power, such electric refrigerators will not work when they are put in a district having no electric power or in the field, thereby a kind of combustion gas refrigerator has been developed for the markets; a combustion gas refrigerator is provided with a cooling unit and a combustion unit, the cooling unit uses ammonia as a refrigerating agent refrigerating by absorbing and diffusing without supplying with electric power, and only is driven by heat generated by the combustion unit; this solves the trouble that electric refrigerators do not work in a district having no electric power.

A combustion gas refrigerator gets the effect of cooling mainly by changing over between gas state ammonia and liquid state ammonia by the physical and chemical functions to exchange heat with the outside environment, the heat required for changing over between gas and liquid phases can be provided by using various combustion material, such as gas, natural gas, kerosene, coal balls or remained heat of a stove, thereby the gas refrigerator can run without supplying electric power.

A conventional cooling unit and a conventional combustion unit of a gas refrigerator generally are provided at the rear of the refrigerator, when one needs to know the state of running of the refrigerator, he shall observe the burning state of the combustion unit through an observation hole, and thereby is very inconvenient; and one can only control fire power of the conventional gas refrigerator and to do ignition by a manual operation mode, this is too very inconvenient; a bottle neck thereby has been formed for popularizing of gas refrigerators in the markets.

There have been control devices for gas refrigerators developed and provided for markets to eliminate the defects of the manual operation mode to ignite a gas refrigerator, they include adjusting valves, pulse igniting devices and electromagnetic valves; an adjusting valve can adjust combustion gas flow, an electromagnetic valve can control blocking/opening of a combustion gas passage, a pulse igniting device is composed of a high voltage coil and an ignition induction needle provided at a combustion gas output port, the induction needle can create high voltage electric discharging at the combustion gas output port.

Although a control device as mentioned above for a gas refrigerator can make ignition according to the amount of combustion gas flow needed to be adjusted and can save the necessity of doing ignition by a manual operation mode, a device for igniting and fire power controlling are provided at the rear of the refrigerator, one still needs to observe the sensed high temperature in burning of the combustion unit through an observation hole at the rear of the refrigerator for adjusting the combustion gas, and this can only be done according to experience in adjusting the amount of combustion gas flow rather than according to automatic control when being at the set temperature for the inside of the refrigerator. Hence such a control device still is quite inconvenient.

In view of this, the inventor of the present invention studied and invented an automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator, the system can automatically control a combustion unit without the necessity of observing the sensed high temperature in burning of the combustion unit and adjusting the combustion gas flow by a manual operation mode, and thereby use of the system is convenient and highly safe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator, the system can automatically control a combustion unit without the necessity of observing the sensed high temperature in burning of the combustion unit and adjusting the combustion gas flow by a manual operation mode, and thereby use of the system is convenient and highly safe.

In order to get the above stated object, the automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator the present invention comprises a control module, a temperature sensing device and a thermoelectric couple, the gas refrigerator is provided at its rear with a combustion unit and a cooling unit, the combustion unit is provided with a combustion gas passage in connecting with a combustion gas bottle, and is provided with an electric power supply for supplying electric power required for firing combustion gas by a pulse igniting device for burning, in order that the cooling unit can be driven by heat energy from burning, thus the gas refrigerator can keep its low temperature.

Wherein: the control module further includes a control circuit and an electromagnetic valve provided in the combustion gas passage, the control circuit is connected with the electromagnetic valve and a pulse igniting device to control the electromagnetic valve to block or let go of combustion gas from/for entering the combustion unit, and to control the pulse igniting device in high voltage electric discharging and igniting the combustion gas when the electromagnetic valve let go of combustion gas.

The temperature sensing device is provided in the gas refrigerator to sense the inside temperature of the refrigerator and to transmit a temperature signal sensed to the control circuit; if the temperature inside the gas refrigerator does not reach a set temperature value, the control circuit activates the electromagnetic valve and the pulse igniting device to ignite the combustion gas, when the temperature inside the gas refrigerator reaches the set temperature value, the control circuit shuts the electromagnetic valve to block the combustion gas from entering the combustion unit to stop burning of the latter.

The thermoelectric couple provided in the combustion unit is used to transmit burning signals to the control circuit, when the electromagnetic valve is in the state of letting go of the combustion gas while the flame in the combustion unit extinguishes, the thermoelectric couple will transmit an extinguishing lower temperature signal meaning abnormal burning back to the control circuit, the control circuit can thus judge to be a state of insufficiency of combustion gas or circuit abnormality, and then makes the electromagnetic valve block the combustion gas from entering the combustion unit. After the circuit equipment is examined and repaired or has its combustion bottle changed, the control module is reactivated to activate the electromagnetic valve and the pulse igniting device to reignite the combustion gas, thus an object of safe control is achieved.

As compared with the prior art, the present invention can automatically control the combustion unit to drive operation of the cooling unit in pursuance of the temperature inside of the gas refrigerator by means of the temperature sensing device, the thermoelectric couple and the control module, and can make re-ignition with a set time period against abnormal flame extinguishing, and can stop supplying of combustion gas with a set time period, thereby the present invention can get the effect of convenience and safety in use.

The present invention will be apparent in its technical measures after reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof in reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view showing the structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the systematic skeleton of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention provided with a wind shield;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention provided with an electric power line and an electric heating pipe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring firstly to FIGS. 1 and 2, in the automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator 10 of the present invention, the combustion gas refrigerator 10 is provided at its rear with a combustion unit 11 and a cooling unit 12, the combustion unit 11 is provided with a combustion gas passage in connecting with a combustion gas bottle, and is provided with an electric power supply 13 for supplying electric power required for firing combustion gas by a pulse igniting device 14 for burning; the cooling unit 12 can be driven by heat obtained by burning of the combustion unit 11, in order that the gas refrigerator 10 can keep a low temperature. The automatic control system comprises a control module 20, a temperature sensing device 30 and a thermoelectric couple 40.

Wherein: the control module 20 further includes a control circuit 21 and a normally closed type electromagnetic valve 22 provided in the combustion gas passage, the control circuit 21 is connected with the electromagnetic valve 22 and the pulse igniting device 14 to control the electromagnetic valve 22 to block or let go of combustion gas from/for entering the combustion unit 11, and to control the pulse igniting device 14 in high voltage electric discharging and igniting the combustion gas to render the combustion unit 11 to start burning when the electromagnetic valve 22 let go of combustion gas.

The temperature sensing device 30 is provided in the gas refrigerator 10 to sense the inside temperature of the refrigerator 10 and to transmit a temperature signal sensed to the control circuit 21; if the temperature inside the gas refrigerator 10 does not reach a set temperature value, the control circuit 21 activates the electromagnetic valve 22 and the pulse igniting device 14 to ignite the combustion gas, heat energy generated by burning of the combustion unit 11 drives the cooling unit 12 to operate, so that the temperature inside the gas refrigerator 10 is lowered; when the temperature inside the gas refrigerator 10 reaches the set temperature value, the control circuit 21 shuts the electromagnetic valve 22 to block the combustion gas from entering the combustion unit to stop burning of the latter.

The thermoelectric couple 40 provided in the combustion unit 11 is used to transmit burning signals to the control circuit 21, when the electromagnetic valve 22 is in the state of letting go of the combustion gas while the flame in the combustion unit 11 extinguishes, the thermoelectric couple 40 is unable to transmit burning signals back to the control circuit 21, then the control circuit 21 makes the pulse igniting device 14 discharge and ignite to fire the combustion gas, thus an effect of automatically restarting igniting can be obtained.

If the thermoelectric couple 40 is unable to transmit burning signals back to the control circuit 21 in a predetermined time after the pulse igniting device 14 restarts igniting, the control circuit 21 can judge to be a state of insufficiency of combustion gas or circuit abnormality, and then makes the electromagnetic valve 22 block the combustion gas from entering the combustion unit 11. After the circuit equipment is examined and repaired or has its combustion bottle changed, the control module 20 is reactivated to activate the electromagnetic valve 22 and the pulse igniting device 14 to reignite the combustion gas, thus an object of safe control is achieved.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when in practicing, for avoiding accident flame extinguishing by wind blowing, a wind shield 50 of heat durable glass material can be provided on the exterior side of the combustion unit 11. Additionally, the above mentioned electric power supply 13 can be a battery 131 or can be composed of a solar energy plate 132 and a storage battery 133, the solar energy plate 132 can be provided on an outer wall of the wind shield 50 for storing the light energy generated from burning, and is provided in front of the gas refrigerator 10 with an indicating lamp 15 that is directly connected with the solar energy plate 132; when the combustion gas burns, the solar energy plate 132 not only can convert the light energy into electric energy for storing in the storage battery 133, but also can turn on the indicating lamp 15, in favor of observing whether the combustion gas is in the state of normally burning.

Moreover, the electric power supply 13 can be connected with an illumination lamp 60, and the gas refrigerator 10 is provided on its door with a door controlling switch 61 to turn on the circuit between the illumination lamp 60 and the electric power supply 13, in order that when the door of the gas refrigerator 10 is opened, the door controlling switch 61 turns on the circuit to make the illumination lamp 60 illuminate the gas refrigerator 10; while when the door of the gas refrigerator 10 is closed, the door controlling switch 61 turns off the circuit to make the illumination lamp 60 extinguish.

As shown in FIG. 4, by virtue that the cooling unit 12 of the present invention is driven by heat for running, the gas refrigerator 10 can not only make the cooling unit 12 operate to lower the temperature of itself by making the combustion unit 11 burn to generate heat to drive the cooling unit 12 for operation, but also can be provided at the rear of itself with an electric power line 70 and an electric heating pipe 71 in connecting with the electric power line 70. When the electric power line 70 is connected to a municipal electric power source, it can provide the electric heating pipe 71 with electric power to get the required heat, and to make the cooling unit 12 operate to maintain low temperature inside of the refrigerator 10. In other words, in addition to that the refrigerator 10 of the present invention can burn the combustion gas to make the cooling unit 12 operate to maintain low temperature inside of the refrigerator 10 at a location such as an outdoor field lack of a municipal electric power source, the electric heating pipe 71 can also make the cooling unit 12 operate to maintain low temperature inside of the refrigerator 10 at any location such as an indoor area where a municipal electric power source is available.

The names of the members and the drawings for the present invention are only for illustrating preferred embodiments of the present invention, and not forgiving any limitation to the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various equivalent modifications or changes can be made to the elements of the present invention without departing from the spirit, scope and characteristic of this invention shall fall within the scope of the appended claims and are intended to form part of this invention. 

1. An automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator used to control a combustion unit of said combustion gas refrigerator, said combustion gas refrigerator is provided at its rear with a combustion unit and a cooling unit, said combustion unit is provided with a combustion gas passage in connecting with a combustion gas bottle, and is provided with an electric power supply for supplying electric power required for firing combustion gas by a pulse igniting device for burning, in order that said cooling unit is driven by heat energy from burning, and said gas refrigerator can keep its low temperature; said automatic control system comprises: a control module which further includes a control circuit and an electromagnetic valve provided in said combustion gas passage, said control circuit is connected with said electromagnetic valve and a pulse igniting device to control said electromagnetic valve to block or let go of said combustion gas, and to control said pulse igniting device to ignite said combustion gas when said electromagnetic valve let go of said combustion gas; a temperature sensing device provided in said gas refrigerator to sense inside temperature of said refrigerator and to transmit a temperature signal sensed to said control circuit; when said control circuit judges that temperature inside said gas refrigerator does not reach a set temperature value, said control circuit activates said electromagnetic valve and said pulse igniting device to ignite said combustion gas; and a thermoelectric couple provided in said combustion unit being used to transmit burning signals to said control circuit, when said electromagnetic valve is in a state of letting go of said combustion gas while said control circuit does not receive said burning signals from said thermoelectric couple, said control circuit controls said pulse igniting device to re-ignite said combustion gas or to make said electromagnetic valve block said combustion gas.
 2. The automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator as in claim 1, wherein: said electromagnetic valve is a normally closed type.
 3. The automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator as in claim 1, wherein: said electric power supply is a battery.
 4. The automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator as in claim 1, wherein: said electric power supply is composed of a solar energy plate and a storage battery.
 5. The automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator as in claim 1, wherein: said combustion unit is provided on its exterior side with a wind shield.
 6. The automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator as in claim 1, wherein: said electric power supply is composed of a solar energy plate and a storage battery, and said combustion unit is provided on its exterior side with a wind shield; said solar energy plate is fixed on an outer wall of said wind shield.
 7. The automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator as in claim 4, wherein: said solar energy plate is provided in front of said combustion gas refrigerator with an indicating lamp.
 8. The automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator as in claim 1, wherein: said electric power supply is connected with an illumination lamp for illuminating inside of said gas combustion refrigerator, and is provided on its door with a door controlling switch to control a circuit between said illumination lamp and said electric power supply.
 9. The automatic control system for a combustion gas refrigerator as in claim 1, wherein: said gas combustion refrigerator is provided at the rear of it with an electric power line connected to a municipal electric power source, and an electric heating pipe in connecting with said electric power line; when said electric heating pipe emits heat to drive said cooling unit to operate, low temperature inside of said gas combustion refrigerator is maintained. 